Sales on the European pear market are still quite good. "Product is hard to come by, but prices began rising this week," begins Dominiek Noppe of the Belgian company, Vergro. "Day trade pears have become slightly pricier, and those prices are gradually reaching pallet prices. There's a vast difference between large and small-sized batches, so it's difficult to judge separately."
Southern Europe experienced harvesting issues, which creates prospects for Belgian pears in the current market. "The last few weeks' prices, which we hope will continue, proves this. There are quite a few rejects during sorting, though. There are more pears with harvesting damage than in other years. But once they're removed, only very nice products remain," says Dominiek.
Still, the exporter is wary of the remaining season. "The unusually warm weather could lead to surprises. We'll have to evaluate the pears in cold storage every month. If there are rapidly deteriorating batches, we'll have to get rid of them quickly. For now, that's our stance."
Overfull apple market, no local tomatoes
While pear sales paint quite a positive picture, the apple market mood is moving in the totally opposite direction. "That market's a disaster. We still have customers for Belgian Gala and Evelina apples. Those are selling well, but we genuinely mustn't buy Jonagold, for example. We only do that if those have a market. Now, however, we're not taking unnecessary risks. There are too few countries looking at present. Most have enough of their own volumes, and it's too risky to send trade to the countries that are on the market," explains Dominiek.
The exporter has hardly any winter Belgian or Dutch tomatoes, another of its important product groups. "Virtually no growers are doing lit cultivation this winter. That's pretty much on hold until February/March. We'll start looking at importing tomatoes from Spain or Morocco for our regular lines since there'll be just about zero Dutch or Belgian ones."
Cannot enjoy new cooling center because of high energy costs
In September, Vergro took a new cooling center - which can hold ten million extra kilos of fruit - into use. A grand opening at the end of July celebrated that. Yet, this Belgian company has to yet enjoy that facility. "The extra space is wonderful," says Noppe. "September is, however, usually the month with the most refrigeration."
"That meant our power bill was higher than it's ever been. Energy prices in Belgium did halve from October, so we're not completely panicking yet. We'd also already added a little more margin to cover our energy costs. But unless those costs plummet again, this segment will suffer plenty of losses," Dominiek concludes.
For more information:
Dominiek Noppe
Vergro
5 Kleine Roeselare Street
8760, Meulebeke, BE
Tel: +32 (0) 514 89 076
Email: info@vergro.com
Website: www.vergro.com